Switching Rails
by Cookies and Ink
Summary: A sarcastic letter, encoded runes and time travel - going thirty years in the past to 1992 was not how Teddy thought his evening was going to go.


**A/N:** This was written for the Training Camp at the QLFC. I was given the prompts of 'Back to the Future' and 'a narrow miss'.

 **Switching Rails**

'Not all magic happens with a bang and flash of coloured lights. Often, the most powerful magic is the quietest.'

It was a phrase his Grandmother was fond of; Teddy had heard it a thousand times. He normally interpreted it to be metaphorical in nature, a roundabout way to talk about love and the sort of deep stuff they normally didn't.

Now, however, nothing felt that certain.

Working as an Unspeakable had been pure luck, an apprenticeship scheme offered to him in his final weeks of NEWTs just as the young man was truly beginning to panic about having no clear path for the future.

Teddy had excelled, travelled the world, and pushed himself more than he thought was possible. Being naturally curious (some would say to the point of recklessness, and they would be right), he had also found himself in a fair few hairy situations.

Where he was now rather took the fucking cake.

On his desk had been a small, anonymous package, which was odd as no one knew he was back after four months working abroad. All he had done was pick the box up and, in a split second, his surroundings had changed completely.

There was no sense of magic. It wasn't like the sickening squeeze of Apparition or the tug of a Portkey. There hadn't even been time to blink.

His left hand went immediately for his wand as Teddy tried to orient himself. Wherever he was now, it couldn't have been more different to the empty open office space he had just left, with one flickering light over the exit and desks buried under stray papers and old coffee cups.

It felt familiar. The air was loud with a mixture of birdsong and wind through the hedgerows. Teddy spun around, taking in the train tracks he was standing by and the station he could see clearly a few hundred meters away. It was tiny, one or two platforms at best, built from old stone and empty of all people, just like the countryside around him. Clearly, this line did not get much traffic, if any, judging by the amount of wildflowers and weeds poking up through the gaps in the tracks. Dandelions were tickling his ankles.

It was too familiar. Teddy could feel his skin breaking out in goosebumps as he cast spells, pointless ones to confirm he was not in some sort of enchantment. It was too real to be an illusion; Teddy just wanted to be sure. He needed facts.

Amidst debating whether to head towards the train station or in a different direction entirely, Teddy remembered the box clutched in his right hand. Four spells, a rune, and furious shaking gave nothing away. Tentatively, his magic rushing to his fingertips in anticipation for an opportunity to use a shielding charm, Teddy slowly opened the box. It was rather flat and small, but Teddy knew that appearances could be deceiving. Whilst his expectations hadn't been high, at the sight of a piece of paper, Teddy found himself a little disappointed.

As he unfolded it, another, even smaller piece of black paper with golden symbols fell out too. A gust of wind caught it, and Teddy watched for a split second as it was lifted up in the air, then drifted towards the only murky, mud-encrusted puddle around.

Scrambling to his senses, Teddy dropped the box, tried to grab the paper as it careened towards likely destruction, missed, missed again, and then, somewhat impatiently, his magic decided to do the job for him. The paper halted in mid air as Teddy swore colourfully under his breath, snatching the box up off the floor, already sufficiently stressed and freaked out. He didn't need his overeager magic acting up and casting spells before he had thought of them; Teddy had already gotten a probationary warning at work after an incident involving his excitable magic, a colleague, and a toothbrush last month.

Unfolding and staring at both papers, his heart sunk. The golden symbols weren't in any language he recognised. The other letter, however, was in all too plain English.

' _Dear Edward Lupin,_

 _Don't let anyone at work see that you have this vitally important black sheet of paper, and most importantly, DO NOT LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO IT._

 _That is your ticket home._

 _We work in the same area of the Ministry, but I can't give you any more information than that. What I am doing is extremely illegal and Azkaban would not suit my constitution._

 _Time is fascinating._

 _Everyone likes to travel._

 _I have married the two._

 _Thirty years is the maximum I have been able to push it back to. Galleons were worth so much more back then. I explored, and the code in gold brought me back to my normal time line, the same as yours._

 _Thirty years back._

 _1992, in case you are not good at arithmetic._

 _Many things have changed since then._

 _More things should change before they can even occur._

 _You, of all people, know what must be done. I believe you can do it._

 _I do not know where it will take you; I have appeared in different places each time I have gone._

 _I believe you can change the future, Edward. I hope you do. As a precautionary measure, I have deeply encoded the key that will allow you to come back to the future. I hope it takes you a long time to solve so you can make a difference before you return to 2022._

 _Good luck.'_

It wasn't signed.

Teddy let himself swear, furious phrases that didn't make anatomical sense. He was terrified as well as angry, his mind racing. As mad as it sounded, it made sense. He had been halfway through the second paragraph when he had realised why the train station had felt so familiar.

He was in Hogsmeade; the train station was the same one the Hogwarts Express pulled into, which explained why the line seemed barely used. The train only made four return trips every academic year.

There was only one thing to do.

Teddy needed proof, and that meant primary sources. Where he was now, out along the train tracks, there were no newspapers or people, so with his head spinning, wand still drawn and papers spelled for safety deep in his pocket, Teddy started to walk to what he hoped would be the start of civilisation.

When he arrived, it turned out that Teddy wasn't so lucky. It was so empty he half expected tumbleweeds to blow across the platform. Sighing to himself, he twisted and walked slowly towards the direction of the village. Pubs were always a good place to learn the lay of the land, and he hadn't been in the Hog's Head or Three Broomsticks since he'd left school (maybe now he could have some firewhiskey and not have anyone laugh at the colour his hair turned _every single time_ ). Teddy turned away to head past the train station down the road which led over to Hogsmeade.

A large sign had been planted in the soft grass just over to the left. Painted on it was a notice that made Teddy's eyebrows raise high.

 **IF YOU ARE HERE FOR THE JOB INTERVIEW AT HOGWARTS CASTLE, PLEASE WAIT HERE TO BE COLLECTED BY A MEMBER OF STAFF.**

A job interview? Teddy glanced up at the blue sky and warmth that came so rarely to this part of Scotland. It must be spring or summer, which meant… Of course. He could have slapped himself for taking so long to realise. If it was 1992, then the curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching position was still holding strong. Today must be the day that the perspectives would be interviewed as the potential new Professors. The sun wasn't that high in the sky, however, so Teddy doubted that he'd missed being collected by the mentioned Member of Staff. Where was everyone?

Did it matter to him? He had to find proof and work out how on earth he was going to solve the bloody riddle that was his way of returning home. Teddy had had plans of having a long bath and then watching crap TV until he fell asleep on the sofa; this had not been on the cards at all.

A tall witch appeared at the top of the road, clearly heading for the train station as there was nowhere else she could have been going. She was dressed somewhat formally; at this distance, Teddy could tell she was wearing her hat. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to decide how he wanted to look. He felt uncomfortable and nervous, which meant that with all the recent shocks, his hair would be mutinous at best to control. Teddy spent so long deliberating that by the time he decided to stick with his natural appearance, it was just as well because she could see him clearly and would have realised he was a metamorphmagus.

"Good morning. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall."

She looked nothing like the Minerva Teddy knew. Teddy had spent many afternoons with Harry and the extended family, having tea at Minerva's home in Hogsmeade. They had baked biscuits together. This lady, on the other hand, had black hair pulled away from her face and was surveying him keenly in a way that made Teddy's back straighten at the scrutiny. The only thing that was the same was the thick Scottish accent.

"Good morning. I'm Edward Howell, here to apply for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position." he said warmly, extending a hand for her to shake.

The words came out of his mouth like they were spoken by another person. Internally, he was screaming at himself and wondering why he had remembered his paternal grandmother's maiden name at a time like this.

 _I believe you can change the future, Edward._

McGonagall's grip was strong as they shook hands briefly before parting, she only slightly returning his smile. For a Gryffindor, the McGonagall of the past was awfully cagey.

"Do you know if many other people applied for the position?" Teddy asked, realising now that if he was a Professor at Hogwarts, not only would he have access to Albus Dumbledore, McGonagall, Severus Snape and countless young people whose lives he could change for the better, but also house elves who made the best rhubarb crumble in the world - and the library, which could help him in his quest for returning to the future.

This was all temporary, after all. Teddy would go along with whatever was going to happen, but he was always going to go back. To just change the future would be ridiculous. What could he do? Give lots of points to people who were going to be instrumental in the war that was coming as an anticipatory 'well done for saving the country'?

His question had made her smile, although there didn't seem to be much humour or friendliness in it.

"I believe you are the only one. We were contacted by Gilderoy Lockhart, but he is now…" McGonagall checked her watch and waited a few seconds. "Late. If he does arrive, he can walk up to the castle by himself. Come along, we shall walk together and get started."

With that, McGonagall started walking. Teddy recognised it as a test, McGonagall treating him like a child to see if he could be pushed around or flustered, so he just lengthened his stride and kept up easily, determined not to fill in the silence.

This was all temporary… but he hadn't been raised by Slytherins, Gryffindors, and found his home in Hufflepuff to just give up now. Teddy needed facts - a plan - but if there was one thing he knew, it was that no matter what happened and how life shifted, twisted and turned onto different paths like a train changing tracks, Teddy always rolled with the punches, made lemonade, or whatever other cliche his brain couldn't think up.

Besides, Professor Edward Howell had a rather nice ring to it - as did 'changing the future'.


End file.
